Apparently he's messing up in Dallas already. For those of you who aren't familiar with him, he's a wide receiver who was cut by Philadelphia because he's an inveterate jerkoff, and later picked up by Dallas. Now, who cares? Many receivers complain about injuries in preseason to avoid going to practice. Many players are fined by their team for minor infractions. None of that makes news, so why this? Well, similar to the media attention on whether or not Hillary will run or the focus on whether Katie Couric will be able to read the news in an exciting way, it's a story because of who, rather than what, is being discussed.
Owens (TO) is a publicity hound of the worst sort. He distinguished himself by instigating brawls between teams, his over-the-top touchdown celebrations, and his unapoligetic (yet victimized) attitude. He has also compared himself to Jesus. Really. It's too good to not quote:
"I don't have to worry about what people think of me, whether they hate me or
not. People hated on Jesus. They threw stones at him and tried to kill him, so
how can I complain or worry about what people think?...How can you justify
hating me after I worked so hard rehabilitating from a broken leg to get back to
the Super Bowl to help our team try to win? Really, you've got to look at who
the villain really is in this thing."
People in Philadelphia were "hating on him" because he was renegotiating a $49 million contract that he had just signed with their team.
Of course, he's also very good at catching footballs, which makes some teams think they can handle his antics as long as his performance on the field delivers. Ask Donovan McNabb how well that worked out.
The point is this, people love to hate him. People actually enjoy getting outraged by his latest antic. And they yearn to see the brilliantly successful and excessively arrogant clown "get what's coming to him". It's a safe conversation topic, there's only one side of the debate. Not unlike certain politicians I could name whose names rhyme with "push" or "pillory".
And in fact, "pillory" is the appropriate word, because it shows just how long we, as humans in society, have been at indulging in the "love to hate 'em" thing. It always strikes me as a bizarre phenomenon, because it's not really hatred, so much as a mild dislike or repulsion. If you don't like someone that much, why bother keeping up with what they're doing? Why not just ignore them completely? Wouldn't that be healthier and make you happier, to be focusing on things you don't hate? I keep hoping that some of these petty hatreds (an unusual- but accurate- combination of words right there) will fade away.
But what I really want is to see Owens get cut by Dallas. That would make my day.
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